Israel & Humanity, Lesson 4

Israel & Humanity – the Quest for Universal Torah, by R. Elijah Benamozegh Lesson 4 – YHWH, Tribal God or Singularity, the Psychology of Idolatry Chapter 2, with readings from Erich Fromm's “Religion and Psychology” (pages 114-119) and Edward Edinger's “The Bible and the Psyche” (pages 65,69). There was an original concept of a Singularity long before there was a concept of diversity and division. Reference to pre-Adamic civilization, and when the concepts of dividing Divinity occurred and why. The original concept of the significance of God as the Singularity of existence and how this is reflected in humanity being created in the Image of God in essence to state that humanity also shares this singularity and unity as a human race. One who respects God respects his fellow man, and one who disrespects his fellow man is by definition disrespecting God. The psychology of idolatry, what exactly is idolatry as a human state of mind, and how almost everyone, in one form or another, creates one's own “psychological” (if not actual) idol. Readings from Fromm. The purpose of Israel's initial exclusion from the nations, and why the Sages of Israel created the hedge around the Torah. Readings from Edinger explain the psychology of this.